Benefits Noted This Week

I feel a continuation of the mental focus and sharpness I did during the Whole 30. As mentioned in my introduction post, I had just completed a Whole 30 program immediately prior to trying this anti-inflammatory plan. Digestion feels great, probably partially due to all of the creative uses of ginger (a noted digestive aid).

Challenges This Week

My initial challenge (I thought), would be 4 servings per day of anti-inflammatory foods. I addressed this challenge by stacking at least two anti-inflammatory ingredients together in foods and drinks. For example, grated ginger and turmeric powder in green tea, and the anti-inflammatory coleslaw listed below (around 5 anti-inflammatory ingredients, even more paired with a salad).

Unexpected challenge, lots of turmeric can stain your teeth… after a cup of tea, my 3 year old son told me my teeth are yellow, and I should brush them.

Tips of The Week

Grated Ginger! Get yourself some fresh ginger (organic if possible), if it is in a big batch, freeze some of it for later. I have been grating ginger in to hot tea, iced tea, iced water/seltzer with lemon, and Coleslaw. It provides a nice spicy flavor, along with anti-inflammatory benefits. Peel the ginger by cutting the skin off with a knife or peeler, and then grate. Start off with a little bit to see what your taste is, I have been using about an inch long piece at a time for beverages.

Prep your meals and shop for ingredients in advance each week. I do not make myself a day by day plan so I have some flexibility, but if you do not make a plan for each week, you may run out of ingredients and make poor choices. Along this topic, remove foods on the inflammatory list from your home if you are trying to cut them out, why be tempted? If you don’t have them immediately within reach to consume impulsively, you at least have to go out to the store and buy them, hopefully giving yourself time to think through the decision.

Lets Talk About Week 1 [Video]

Meals

A few general notes about my meals and structure of eating:

1. “Coffee” always means black coffee when listed.
2. “Water” always means reverse osmosis filtered water, unless otherwise noted.
3. I practice intermittent fasting, meaning eating meals in a specific window of time. Usually, I will eat in a 4-6 hour window, and fast 18-20 hours (with slight fluctuation).
4. When I list “Greens Powder”, this is a powder made of dried greens of various types, which I use in place of a multi-vitamin.
5. As I write this post, I have just completed a “Whole 30” program, so any benefits noted should be viewed with this context in mind (I am not starting from square one/making a dramatic shift in my diet).

Monday

Morning: Coffee, Water.

Around 8 am: Green tea with turmeric (all in 1 teabag), grated fresh ginger added.

Around 9:30 am: Seltzer with fresh lemon, grated ginger.

Around 11 am: Coffee with a spoon of coconut oil

Around 3 pm: 3 spoons of Peanut Butter (no added sugar)

Around 4:30 pm: Salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, green powder, smoked herring, garlic, jalapeno peppers, dressed with Olive Oil, salt and pepper; Anti Inflammatory Coleslaw made with broccoli slaw mix, scallions, grated carrot, ginger, garlic, sliced jalapeno peppers; dressing made with avocado mayo, sriracha sauce, lemon juice, turmeric powder, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

Tuesday

Morning: Coffee, Water

Around 8 am: Green tea with turmeric powder added, grated fresh ginger added.

Around 11 am: Green tea with grated ginger, and a spoon of coconut oil.

Around 12 Noon: Salad with lettuce, olives, avocado, sardines, greens powder, Coleslaw (from Monday), dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Around 2:30 pm: 3 spoons of nut butter (no added sugar), cup of green tea.

Evening: Cup of ginger and turmeric tea (all in 1 teabag).

Wednesday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:40 am: Green tea with turmeric powder added, grated fresh ginger added.

Around 11 am: Canned Herring with sriracha sauce.

Around 12 noon: Salad with lettuce, olives, green powder, coleslaw, avocado, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Around 4 pm: 3 spoons of nut butter.

PM: Ginger and Turmeric tea (1 tea bag)

Thursday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 8:00 am: Green tea with turmeric powder added, grated fresh ginger added.

Around 12 PM: Coffee with Coconut Oil

Around 5 pm: Salad with lettuce, olives, green powder, coleslaw, avocado, canned salmon, sriracha sauce, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

PM: Herbal tea.

Friday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Seltzer with lime and grated ginger.

Around 10 am: Coffee with coconut oil.

Around 1 pm: 2 egg omelet with green powder, sliced jalapeno peppers, avocado, with a side of sauerkraut and olives.

Around 6:30 pm: Steak tips with sautéed pepper, mushroom, onions, side salad (dinner out).

Saturday

Morning: Coffee, water.

Around 7:30 am: Iced Green tea with lemon and grated ginger.

Rest of the day, food and drink TBA (posting in the morning).

Favorite Meal of the Week

Anti Inflammatory Coleslaw! Made with 2 bags of broccoli slaw mix, grated carrot, grated ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 sliced jalapeño pepper, chopped scallions, salt and pepper over mix; dressing made with 3/4 cup avocado mayo, 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, juice half lemon, sprinkle of sesame oil. Mix all together, tastes even better the next day! I chose this meal because it really fits well into the theme, tasted great, and I got lots of meals out of it!

Exercise

Notes on exercise:

1. I am not designing an exercise routine to be anti inflammatory.
2. My reason for logging exercise during this program is so you are able to see both diet and exercise as part of the whole picture for any benefits I note for myself during the program.

Monday

Morning stretch and foam roll; about 50 minute walk, around 2.5 miles total.

Tuesday

Morning stretch and foam roll

Deadlifts: Work sets- 205×5, 225×3,3,3,3; Ab wheel roll, 6 sets of 6-8 reps, pull up bar hangs

Wednesday

Goblet squat: 35 lbs- 5,8,8,8; 2 Hand Kettlebell swing: 53 lbs- 5,10,10,10; Pull up: 5,6,5,5; Total gym row: 10,10,10,10; Concentration curl: 20 lbs- 8,8,8,8; Pushup: 12,10,10,12

Thursday

Morning stretch and foam roll; about 50 minute walk, around 2.5 miles total.

Friday

Morning run, around 4.9 miles, no walk breaks, around 56 minutes total.

Saturday

Mowing the lawn, around 2.5 miles, around an hour total time.

My Grade for the Week

I did not consume any of the listed inflammatory foods this week, so I give myself 100% when it comes to avoiding these food groups. I also found it fairly easy to get my 4 servings of anti-inflammatory food and beverages in per day as well. Looking ahead to next week, I want to try a new concoction to help me get some anti-inflammatory foods together: Chia seed pudding. I’ll give a walk through on how I prepare the pudding, and how to mix in anti-inflammatory ingredients. See you next week!